Bike and Boot to open four hotels offering "modern leisure" and "funky interiors"

The newly launched Bike and Boot brand has announced plans to open four hotels following the acquisition of the 50-bedroom Mount hotel in Scarborough.

Seasoned operators Simon Rhatigan and Simon Kershaw completed their purchase of the Scarborough hotel last week off a guide price of £2m to kick start the launch of concept which will offer "a modern leisure escape" with "funky interiors" at an affordable price. All future expansion of Bike and Boots will be via leasehold properties, probably along the north-east coast, and in the Yorkshire Dales, Peak District or Lake District.

OakNorth bank has lent £2.8m to Rhatigan and Kershaw to buy the Grade II-listed Mount hotel (pictured) and adjacent five-storey townhouse. The properties are now undergoing a conversion into a 59-bedroom boutique hotel. Due to open in summer 2019, the new-look business will feature a 100-cover bar and grill restaurant, walking and surfing drying rooms, secure bicycle storage facilities, dog-washing provisions, a retreat lounge with complimentary hot drinks, and an in-house cinema.

Rhatigan and Kershaw, said: "We are very excited to be launching this new hotel concept and feel this beautiful site in Scarborough is the ideal location to get started. The town is a well-established and historic seaside resort offering a range of sites, including the ruins of an 11th century castle and a large harbour which has undergone major regeneration in recent years.

"Our hope is that Bike and Boot will offer a unique escape for not only tourists but also for locals who might wish to visit the restaurant or cinema."

Deepesh Thakrar, senior director, debt finance at OakNorth, added: "This unique hotel concept is the brainchild of two experienced hoteliers who have worked together for several years.

"Both Simons have an extensive track record in developing and delivering for some of the UK's respected hotels and leisure brands and have successfully built a business that provides strategic management services to the hospitality industry, Helmsley Hospitality. We look forward to watching the Bike and Boot brand develop and working with them on future sites."

Rhatigan and Kershaw announced their intention to create a small group of boutique hotels in 2016 when they launched Helmsley Hospitality to buy existing hotels to refurbish, as well as build new ones.

Until 2016 Rhatigan was managing director of Devonshire Hotels & Restaurants, achieved widespread success as owner of the Feversham Arms Hotel and Verbena Spa in Helmsley, North Yorkshire, where he won the Catey award for Independent Hotel of the Year in 2011. The Feversham Arms was sold soon after Rhatigan's divorce from his wife Jill.

Kershaw is a former chairman of the northern region of the British Hospitality Association, who headed up the hospitality team as Carlton Towers, the events and wedding venue owned by Lord and Lady Fitzalan Howard in Carlton, North Yorkshire.

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